The Céilí

Yesterday, just for kicks, I decided to go Irish dancing with a few friends. We had no prior experience with such things, but we did have a few pints, so off we trekked to the Céilí. Céilí is an Irish word (pronounced 'KAY-lee') meaning 'dance party.' This particular one was being held specifically for people like myself, who had never had the fortune to learn how to Irish dance as a child. Thus, when we arrived, we found the place filled with other wary, variably intoxicated, and shuffling Yanks, Canucks, and Aussies. Our mutual presence assuaged most of the lasting fears about looking like a fool in front of a huge window facing the street.

The two man traditional Irish band lulled us into further security with their familiar tunes (including the quintessential hit 'Irish Rover'), and then introduced our dancing mistress, a tall blonde in a tiny purple dress. Actually, the dress was a traditional Irish dancing dress, and I am pretty sure I'd like to have one. But back to our story: Sue, as she is called, danced solo for a few reels, and then beckoned us wary watchers onto the floor. She was an excellent teacher, and thankfully didn't try to teach us anything too complex. After arranging us into a circle, she informed us that she was going to teach us a 'circle dance.' So far, so good.

The circle dance involved a lot of holding hands and yelling, which was soon found to be 'great craic', and not at all embarrassing. The pints of cider or beer we had to drink because the dance was tiring also helped with this impression. After the circle dance, we learned a line dance, which was much harder than the circle dance, and this time the cider was not helping. It still involved holding hands, however, so we clutched each other for safety. After a herculean effort on Sue's part, we dancers finally managed to get through the dance without falling all over each other (harder than it sounds, trust me), and soon enough, were happily skipping away to the music.

We all took a bit of a break to listen to the band after this, and to let the dance steps (and another pint) soak in. After singing along (and whooping and clapping at all the right spots during 'Galway Girl') we got back on the floor to perform our impressive dances. We did the circle dance and then the line dance, and then the circle dance again. We were meant to do the line dance again, but no one could make it to their spots, and we all ended up trying to go under each other's arms. This resulted in some accidental clothes-lining of a few of the shorter dancers. Laughing and leaving for another pub, we decided that we'd definitely go to another céilí, if we'd only be invited...